The Forging of A Union

One of the things that has struck me as I have read, and read, and read in preparation for this class is how tenuous the forming of our nation was.  I knew that there was tension during the Revolution between those who wanted independence and those who still considered themselves subjects of the crown.  And I knew of course of the secessions during the Civil War, but what I did not realize was that this idea of secession was a constant plague from the signing of The Declaration of Independence until the time of the Civil War.  The 'Union' was a very fragile union indeed!  This year we will walk through this forging - through the heat of fiery arguments, bitter plots and espionage, and even acts of treason which occurred before we hammered each other out on the anvil of our Civil War after which we were finally forged into a more solid union. . . . weren't we?  I'm still reading - I'll keep you posted!  So a good question to consider as we read and study is, "What has preserved the Union?"

Tick Tock the National Debt Clock

We are all aware of the current debate over the national debt limit.  Current events will be a strong component of this class, and as this topic is likely to go on through the fall I would like my students to take a look at it now.  This is also a thread that we will follow through the history readings in our text (it is not a new debate) and will be a portion of the economics segment of the class. 

 

Take a look at the counter for the US National Debt.  It is  a bit overwhelming to look at - there are many different counters on this page, but if you look in the top left corner, the second number down is the number we are all interested in titled 'US National Debt'.

  

To help students understand such large numbers I have located two videos on YouTube:

 

What is a Billion?

 

 

How much is a trillion?

 

Online Learning: American Indians

How are you all doing with your summer assignments?  I found a website that you may find helpful in learning about the American Indian.  It is on the Learner.org Interactives website.  (Pay attention to what peoples are located in which geographical area.)  When you have finished reading about the different peoples take the online quiz!

Welcome!

Welcome to U.S. History Class!  I'm excited about getting to know you this year and learning about the history and culture of our nation with you.  I set up this blog to facilitate communication and to have a place to post assignments, short articles, film clips, and links to interesting websites.  First, I am posting here a portion of an email that you have seen previously regarding the your summer work:

The main summer requirement is to become familiar with the native people living in the Americas - both North and South before the 'Age of Exploration'.  In this class I will use the term American Indian as opposed to Native American.  In most US history classes students only learn of these peoples as they meet them through various conflicts.  I want my students to have an idea of who was where, what they were like, how they lived, what they believed, and how they governed themselves before we begin.  I recommend  Holling C. Holling's Book of Indians, but feel free to explore on your own - there are lots of books in the library.

The second most important summer assignment is related to the first.  I would like students to visit a living history site, or at least a historical site or a museum exhibit related to American Indians.  If you aren't travelling very far this summer their is a nice exhibit at the Schiele Museum in Gaston Country.

The third assignment is to practice drawing the United States.  Students should be very familiar with the outline of the US, the location of the main geographical features and location and shape of our states.  Actually it's not a bad idea to have a general idea of the shape and location of Canada and South America as well -  go ahead and practice drawing the outline North and South America.

If students have not recently read The Little House on the Prarie series now is the perfect time.  There are a lot of ideas and themes in our class that are related and described in that series.

I'll be making some more posts throughout the remainder of the summer, so you might want to subscribe to this blog or click the link to join this site so you will know when a new post is made.

See you soon!

Mrs. Amber